Perhaps this can give some idea of what you're dealing with:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <iterator>
#include <fstream>
#include <time.h>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
unsigned count1(FILE *infile, char c) {
int ch;
unsigned count = 0;
while (EOF != (ch=getc(infile)))
if (ch == c)
++count;
return count;
}
unsigned int count2(FILE *infile, char c) {
static char buffer[8192];
int size;
unsigned int count = 0;
while (0 < (size = fread(buffer, 1, sizeof(buffer), infile)))
for (int i=0; i<size; i++)
if (buffer[i] == c)
++count;
return count;
}
unsigned count3(std::istream &infile, char c) {
return std::count(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(infile),
std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(), c);
}
unsigned count4(std::istream &infile, char c) {
return std::count(std::istream_iterator<char>(infile),
std::istream_iterator<char>(), c);
}
unsigned int count5(std::istream &infile, char c) {
static char buffer[8192];
unsigned int count = 0;
while (infile.read(buffer, sizeof(buffer)))
count += std::count(buffer, buffer+infile.gcount(), c);
count += std::count(buffer, buffer+infile.gcount(), c);
return count;
}
unsigned count6(std::istream &infile, char c) {
unsigned int count = 0;
char ch;
while (infile >> ch)
if (ch == c)
++count;
return count;
}
template <class F, class T>
void timer(F f, T &t, std::string const &title) {
unsigned count;
clock_t start = clock();
count = f(t, 'N');
clock_t stop = clock();
std::cout << std::left << std::setw(30) << title << "\tCount: " << count;
std::cout << "\tTime: " << double(stop-start)/CLOCKS_PER_SEC << "\n";
}
int main() {
char const *name = "equivs2.txt";
FILE *infile=fopen(name, "r");
timer(count1, infile, "ignore");
rewind(infile);
timer(count1, infile, "using getc");
rewind(infile);
timer(count2, infile, "using fread");
fclose(infile);
std::ifstream in2(name);
timer(count3, in2, "ignore");
in2.clear();
in2.seekg(0);
timer(count3, in2, "using streambuf iterators");
in2.clear();
in2.seekg(0);
timer(count4, in2, "using stream iterators");
in2.clear();
in2.seekg(0);
timer(count5, in2, "using istream::read");
in2.clear();
in2.seekg(0);
timer(count6, in2, "using operator>>");
return 0;
}
Running this, I get results like this (with MS VC++):
ignore Count: 1300 Time: 0.309
using getc Count: 1300 Time: 0.308
using fread Count: 1300 Time: 0.028
ignore Count: 1300 Time: 0.091
using streambuf iterators Count: 1300 Time: 0.091
using stream iterators Count: 1300 Time: 0.613
using istream::read Count: 1300 Time: 0.028
using operator>> Count: 1300 Time: 0.619
and this (with MinGW):
ignore Count: 1300 Time: 0.052
using getc Count: 1300 Time: 0.044
using fread Count: 1300 Time: 0.036
ignore Count: 1300 Time: 0.068
using streambuf iterators Count: 1300 Time: 0.068
using stream iterators Count: 1300 Time: 0.131
using istream::read Count: 1300 Time: 0.037
using operator>> Count: 1300 Time: 0.121
As we can see in the results, it's not really a matter of iostreams being categorically slow. Rather, a great deal depends on exactly how you use iostreams (and to a lesser extent FILE * as well). There's also a pretty substantial variation just between these to implementations.
Nonetheless, the fastest versions with each (fread and istream::read) are essentially tied. With VC++ getc is quite a bit slower than either istream::read or and istreambuf_iterator.
Bottom line: getting good performance from iostreams requires a little more care than with FILE * -- but it's certainly possible. They also give you more options: convenience when you don't care all that much about speed, and performance directly competitive with the best you can get from C-style I/O, with a little extra work.
